Car-coupling.



PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903.

No. 740,013. v

. w. N. HBNSLE'Y.

GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION III-ED JULY 28. 1903.-

H0 MODEL.

Q l S h i knuckle to place the same in position for clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

from position in'the draw-head when necesv UNITED STATE-s ?atented September 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAM'N. HEN SLEY OF COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA.

CAR-COUPLING.

-SPEGIFICATIQN formingpart of Letters Patent No. 740,013, dated September 29, 1903.

Application filed July 28, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N. HENSLEY, of Columbus, in the county of Platte and State of Nebraska, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

which 4 Figure l is a perspective view of a. car-. coupler embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a like viewofa portion of the draw-head,- the jaw being removed; and Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the coupler as shown in Fig. 1.

My invention relates to car-couplers of the twin-jaw type in which a spring is provided for automatically throwing open the jaw or coupling the cars to avoid the danger of breaking the jaw in coupling, which is likely to occur should the jaw be left in a closed position, and to remove the necessity of the trainman, at the jeopardy of life or limb, going between the cars to open the jaw to position for coupling.

The object of my invention is to provide a coupler of the class in question in which a most simple form of spring can be used, one that may be easily placed in and removed sary and which will be free from likelihood of breakage or derangement from use; and to these ends my invention consists in the car-coupler having the construction substantially as hereinafter specified andclaimed.

In making my present invention I have adapted it to the car-coupler which forms the subject of my United States Patent No. 711,496, October 21, 1902, and I illustrate and shall describe such invention in connection with that car-coupler, premising, however, that I do not limit myself to the employment of my invention with that particular construction of car-coupler, as it is adapted for use with all car-couplers of the twin-jaw type.

In the drawings, A designates the drawhead, and B the pivoted jaw or knuckle, the jaw or knuckle having, as usual, an inward extension or tail. The knuckle-locking bar 0 and the means for operating the latter are the same in construction as in the coupler of my before-mentioned patent, and therefore oflbolts or other fastening-devices.

Serial No. 167,334. (No model.)

they need not be described, as the same are fully shown and described in said patent.

Extending down between the tail of the knuckle and the adjacent side of the' drawhead is a spring D, which consists of a strip or plate that when free from restraint curves outward and downward away from the wall of the draw-head, its lower end being free and bearing against the knuckle tail or extension in such manner as to operate'to swing the knuckle into an open position, and the upper portion of said spring being passed through a vertical slot or opening in the top of the draw-head, and its upperend being curved into a hook shape thatcatches over a lug or projection on the upper side of the draw.- head and the spring thereby being secured in position. The lug is reduced in thickness toward its bottom, and the hook on the spring is shaped to conform thereto, it therefore engaging with the lug, so as to securely retain the spring in place without the employment When the knuckle is in a closed or coupling position, its tail presses the spring substantially flat against the adjacent side of the drawhead. On releasing the knuckle from the locking-bar O, which is done by operating the operating-lever from the side of the car, the spring will'act to throw the knuckle to an open position.

It will be seen that the form of spring which I employ, which is possible because of the position it has with reference to the knuckle,

it extending parallel with the knuckle-axis,

is one that is free from any sharp bends or turns, which in the operation of the spring would be specially subject to strains, and

therefore likely to result in the breakage of v the spring, that the spring can be placed in and removed from position with absolutely no necessity of removing the knuckle or any other part of the coupler, and that it is so housed or protected as to be free from possibility of derangement by the presence of any objects that, if it were in an exposed position, might accidentally be lodged or get in position to hinder its action.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle, and a spring consist- ICO ing of a plate or strip that extends parallel with the axis of the knuckle and lies between a part thereof and the draw-head.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle, and a spring consistend being free and engaging said part, and its upper :end being secured to the top of the draw-head. Y

4. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head, a knuckle, and a spring consisting of a strip or plate that has a hook on one end and a lug on the draw-head that is reduced in thickness toward one side and is engaged by the hook.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM N. I-IENSLEY.

Witnesses:

G. W. PHILLIPS, J. F. CARRIG. 

